Dairy Queen

I know it seems like a long time in between posts, but I have been reading! I just reviewed a series called Great Empires of the Past for VOYA. Very interesting. I learned quite a bit about the Islamic Empire and the Mongol Empire.

Then I picked up Dairy Queen, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. I love the title, and embarassing as it is, it gives me fond memories of the Dairy Queen just beside my highschool, where we would go for Ultimate Burgers at lunchtime. Ahh, those were the days!

But, I digress!

D.J. has taken up virtually all of the farm chores since her brothers left home and her dad hurt his hip. She never even thinks about it. The milking needs to get done, so she does it. She doesn't think about the fact that noone helps her out, and her little brother Curtis isn't even expected to on the days that he has baseball practise. D.J. had to quit her own basketball playing which may have led to a university scholarship.

She is shocked when Brian Nelson shows up at her house one day wanting to help. This is small town USA and Brian is from neighboring Hawsley...rival sports town to D.J.'s Red Bend. Brian isn't any football player, either...he's the QB.

A snotty comment from Brian makes D.J. realize that she is not too different from the cows on her farm. She doesn't question anything. She just does what she is supposed to do. She assumes that there are no choices in life. Soon she starts asking the questions that will change her life. Why doesn't her little brother talk to anyone? Why is her best friend so pissed off at the world? Why couldn't she play football on the boy's team at school? Why isn't her mother home any more?

I ended up loving this book. I wasn't fond of D.J. at first. She was so self depricating that I was getting annoyed. By mid-book, however, her wit was sarcastic, dry and fun. I found myself wanting her to succeed and wanting her to find her voice. I could picture her farm, feel the hot breezes and just transport myself there!

I'm going to miss this book!

Hold the Presses!

Ok.

So after the Comicon, I ordered Runaways from an online store. Jen has been telling me about this comic forever, but I never got the get up and go to read it. I purchased the hard cover 18 issue volume 1.

Wow!

I have to pull something off my Top Ten because this book is amazing. It has so many elements to love, which could have been cheesy, but some how were not cheesy.

Evil parents. Teen angst. Teen hormones. Super powers. The chase. The mystery. The mythology.

Loved it!!!!

I can't even figure out who I love the best. The former goth girl in me loves Nico, but I love dumb old Chase too. And Molly. And even Old Lace (which I thought would be impossible).

Thank you Brian K. Vaughan.

Top Ten Graphic Novels

Now...before you read my list, you should know my preference is for indy stuff. My very first collections were Mr. X, Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children, The Question and then Sandman. Everything evolved from there.

10. Fun with Milk and Cheese, by Dorkin

9. Poor Bastard, by Matt

8. Kill Your Boyfriend, by Morrison

7. Hopeless Savages, by Van Meter

6. Love and Rockets, by Hernandez

5. House of Secrets: Foundation, by Seagle

4. Blankets, by Thompson

3. Ghost World, by Clows

2. Tricked, by Robinson

1. 32 Stories: The Complete Optic Nerve, by Tomine

The Search for Belle Prater

I remember reading Belle Prater's Boy for the first time and loving it. Not so much this time. I don't know whether it's because I have read much more "countrified" fiction than I had at that point in my reading career, or if it was just a better book.

I feel that this sequel gives short shrift to the new characters Cassie and Joseph, and is just a bit too tidy in the end. Just MHO.

We join Gyspy and Woodrow right about at New Years Eve. Gypsy explains the family's tradition of sharing New Years Revelations rather than New Years Resolutions. Just at the stroke of midnight, the telephone rings. Eventhough there is no voice on the other end, Woodrow just knows that it has to be his mother. After contacting the operator to find out where the call comes from, Woodrow is off to Bluefield on the bus to find her.

On the bus, Gyspy, Woodrow and Cassie meet Joseph. Joseph is the first coloured boy ("call me black") that Woodrow has ever encountered, and in typical Woodrow fashion, he sticks his foot in his mouth several times before winning Joseph over. Joseph is also on a quest to find some family in Bluefield.

It is a "nice" story, but I certainly wasn't moved. Anyone who has read Belle Prater's Boy by White should give it a read, but it does not warrant a stand alone read.

The Journey That Saved Curious George

Charming, charming, charming!

Still on my quest for summer reading list material, I placed a hold on this title by Louise Borden (ill Allan Drummond).

This book looks a bit like a travel journal / passport itself, and is extremely accessible. It is almost free verse in style, and kids will be eager to learn more about Margaret and H.A. Rey.

Interesting nuggets of information are waiting to be discovered...like the fact that Curious George's name was originally Fifi, and that the Rey's were Brasilian citizens, and that they had pet turtles.

Original photographs and documents pepper the pages alongside Drummond's Rey-esque illustrations. WWII is presented in a factual yet less distressing way than it could be.

I love this book and will be purchasing it for my daughters to read when they are older. A must have for collections!

Comic Con NYC

Ahhhhh the comic convention! The combo geek fest and book fest that turned out to be cool. Aside from the creepy adult twins who actually dressed alike and were freaking me and Jen out, it was pretty fun!

And I got Tricked, by Alex Robinson of Box Office Poison fame. He even signed it and illustrated it for me! Yay!

I couldn't put Tricked down and now I wish it wasn't over. This is the story of intersecting lives with a rockstar bent. There is Ray, formerly of the Tricks, who is suffering from severe writer's block along with an inflated sense of self. Caprice is a waitress with a bad track record concerning men. Steve has stopped taking his meds and is turning into a paranoid and obsessive fan. And Nick just lies, lies, lies, lies.

All of these characters have characters around them who weave in and out of the plot. I am not sure if this book appeals to me so intensely because of the fact that I live in NYC. I often take time to sit and wonder about all of the people around me. How did they end up here? Where are they going? What are their secrets?

This is the graphic novel that I will be recommending to my "hipster" friends. And I know that I will be rereading it often!

Thundershine

I really run hot and cold with short story collections. I recently tried to get through the acclaimed Black Juice, but it really wasn't for me. I recognized the quality of the writing, of course, but I just didn't care about the stories. Even the first that should have been tugging on my heartstrings, left me cold.

At the public library the other day, I picked up Thundershine, by David Skinner. I will admit it...I picked it up because it was a "skinny book". Ahhhh, that phrase I used to try to abolish when I worked in the public libraries! But I am furiously reading to change my summer reading lists, and I thought this was a possibility.

Turns out, it's too much for my age group, but for those of you looking for something for the 10-14 year old set, this is it!

Four magical stories about kids who don't quite fit in. The stories definately have a more scifi bent than fantasy, but I truly believe there is something for everyone in here.

My favourite story is the first one. Jenny "with a J" has been drawing maps every since she was a child. Maps of rooms, neighbourhoods, houses. But they have always been true maps. Suddenly she decides to start "dismapping" things. She starts with her home, and before you know it, Egypt is in Canada. The interesting thing is that nobody notices. People just keep living like there were always two suns and one is blue. But Jenny's best friend notices. Aside from Jenny, she is the only one. And unlike Jenny, she never sees it coming.

There is the story of the "meta humans". Nina suddenly has powers. Or power. She can only have one at a time, but she can also bestow power upon others. She decides that little brother Henry, his best friend and his best friend's girlfriend are all worthy. But Nina runs dark.

"Walk this Way" is a love story in disguise involving a type of teleportation called bopping.

"Poof Poof Ya Does Me a Favor" is the strangest and the most interesting to me. Dexter is a graffiti artist who paints with his mind. Meredith can hear his painting, and can also communicate with the planet Pluto.

They sound like far out stories, and they are. But they are compelling, just long enough and filled with lovely turns of phrase. On page 61 for example "For some reason, I liked my name in her voice."

Read this book!

The Big House

I picked this up out of the children's section of our library in the hopes of finding something to add to my 4th grade summer reading list this year. I am still undecided if this will make the cut, but it was a fun and quick read.

Ivy and Ray's parents have never really been above board, but this time they are both being sent "up the river" for embezzlement from a charity. Ivy and Ray are left in the care of Marietta Noland and her husband Lionel...the very people who had their folks sent away.

Soon Ray and Ivy are living in the Noland mansion, and are left to their own devices in their own wing. They explore, find a great hiding spot in a rhododendron bush, and start taking a bunch of "evidence" (re Marietta's stuff) to help find their parents innocent.

A series of mishaps and mysteries ensue.

It seems that Carolyn Coman was writing a story in the vein of Ibbotson and Dahl but without the level of success.

It is a nice story, don't get me wrong. It's just not as richly told. It is good for a quick read.

Top Tens

So I've been thinking about lists a lot lately. Everyone has their top 10 books of this and that, so I thought I would put some together. Today's theme is:

The Top 10 Books that I Recommend to my Women Friends

The Girl in Hyacinth Blue, by Susan Vreeland
The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath
The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
A Jest of God, by Margaret Laurence
The Myth of You and Me, by Leah Stewart
Esperanze Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan
Snowflower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See
Crowgirl, by Bodil Bresdorff
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin
The Holding, by Merilyn Simonds

There is a mix of children's, YA, and mostly adult in there. But all of these books really touched me in some way or another. If you haven't read them, please do. I'd love to know what you think of these titles!

Snowflower and the Secret Fan

Again. I am so happy my friends have great taste in books. Fabulous recommendation.

A heartbreaking and eye opening read about China, footbinding, nu shu, and the laotong relationship.

This is an example of a book where fact meets fiction so seemlessly that the characters seem real, and China is painted so vividly infront of the reader, that I almost experienced sensory overload.

Lily knows that as a girl in her family she is a "useless branch" destined to marry out. Her family is not so poor that the women have to work in the fields, so she is to have her feet bound along with her cousin Beautiful Moon. Her mother seeks the diviner to come and examine Lily to find the most auspicious day to begin the binding, but to everyone's surprise, the diviner wants to bring in some extra help. Madame Wang is a matchmaker from a different town, and announces that Lily should have a laotong relationship with another girl named Snowflower. Lily's mother is upset that this means that more resources will be taken out of her home, but is scheming enough to realize that this means that Lily could marry up when she marries out, ultimately bringing more money to her natal family.

The women in the household are relegated to the upstairs chamber once their footbinding begins. Terrible pain, the breaking of bones and deathly infection are all in the future. But so is the learning of nu shu, the secret writing of women. Lily's aunt lovingly teaches the girls the characters and didactic stories that go along with them.

The plot spans Lily's lifetime and is rich and somewhat of a rollercoaster ride. It is achingly beautiful and terrible at the same time.

My uncle is a professor of Chinese History, and this book has definately made me want to get in touch with him and learn some more. I will be recommending this specifically to my women friends. I also will be reading more of Lisa See's work.

Children's Book Meme

I do love to answer surveys. Not over the phone, but the kind you can write down. I love polls. I guess I like to put in my own 2 cents.

I found this linked over from Orange Splot and Big A Little A.

1) What were your favourite 3 children's series?
Little House on the Prairie, Pippi Longstocking and The Bobsey Twins.

2)What were your favourite 3 non-series children's books?
Garbage Delight, by Dennis Lee , Where the Sidewalk Ends, and The Great Gilly Hopkins

3) Who were your 3 favourite children's book characters?
Laura Ingalls, Ramona, Charlie Bucket

Bonus
1) Who wrote your least favourite children's books?
Jan and Stan Berenstain

2)What was the saddest moment in childhood reading?
Bridge to Terabithia

3) Which adult book scared the bejeezus out of you?
Amityville Horror. It STILL freaks me out to think of it!!!!

Jesus Land : A Memoir

OMG. Seriously.

"Sinners go to: HELL
Rightchuss go to: HEAVEN
The end is neer: REPENT
This here is: JESUS LAND"

Imagine living someplace where a farmer would post this by the road on his land. Now imagine living there in the 1970s and 80s with your adopted African American brothers and bible thumping missionary styled parents.

This book hit me on so many levels. First Julia's parents. Supposedly missionary in philosophy, surgeon dad drives a Porsche and mom's in an Audi. Religion is used as an excuse to violence in this household from an absent dad and a mom who really should not have had children.

Julia. Drinking Comfort (Southern, that is) before school, distancing herself from brother David at school, and finding her blank spot when brother Jerome comes into her room at night.

David. Just wishing for a family. Trying to fit in. A victim of beatings over the smallest infractions.

Through a series of events, both Julia and David end up in the Dominican Republic at a "Christian" school for Juveniles, that seems to still be in operation today...which horrifies me. They find a way to keep each other sane through the ordeal.

The ending will take your breath away.

I think I am fascinated by this memoir for a number of reasons. It makes me so sad to hear of yet another girl sexually abused who then puts herself out there as a sexual being as a control measure. It makes me worry for my daughters.

The Bible Belt is astounding to me. I grew up going to church...but a middle of the road Protestant church where there was little if any mention of Hell. Daily Fire and Brimstone must take its toll. And the homogeneous nature of the population seems so strange as well. I grew up pretty white bread, but there was a bit of variety that one didn't blink at. I have a friend who grew up the Bible Belt way and I never really knew what to make of her stories...but this memoir certainly solidified her experience to me.

And I constantly wonder why people who don't want and don't like children, have them.

An intense and poignant read, that I kept having to put down, eventhough I didn't want to put it down.

Funny Little Monkey

So this has been on my "to read" pile for about a year now.

What do I think?

I don't know.

This is a very odd feeling. I have no idea who was lying, or what really happend in this book. Arty is an extremely unreliable narrator and I still feel like I could use half the story.

Arty and Kurt are fraternal twins. Extremely fraternal. Arty is stuck at 4'2'' and Kurt is a hulking 6'3''. They live with their mom in their grampa's old house over by the quarry. They are in a new school and all Kurt said to Arty is, "You don't know me".

Arty doesn't bother to learn anyone's names. He gives nicknames by attribute...like Bubble Butt or Albino Girl, or Kerouac (the kid has On the Road perpetually in his back pocket). He does notice, though, that a bunch of the "loser" kids sport pins of a red letter "A", and that Kerouac seems to be their leader.

Maybe Kerouac can help Arty get his big brother off his back. Being small has its disadvantages when others can be phyiscal with you.

Enter Leslie. The gorgeous girl who suddenly notices Arty. Not in the gropy way, but in the "let's hang out" way.

I couldn't put the book down because I wanted to see what happened, but I also feel like there is some kind of philosophical message that I am just not getting.

Author Anderw Auseon has confused me.

I guess that's a good thing!

The Tequila Worm, Belpre winner 2005

I expected a book for a much older audience based on the title and cover, but wow...this was a squeaky clean read!

We enter into Sofia's life in the barrio of border town McAllen Texas. (I had actually heard of McAllen because the library there seems to be perpetually hiring!)We are taken through her youth with her mom, dad, sister Lucy and best friend cousin Berta. Clara starts off being the storyteller of the bunch, and letting each family member know who they resemble (inside and out) as well as where they came from.

Sofia feels a bit like an outsider in her own barrio. She is not content with the idea of a quinceanera, or comfortable with the whole idea of the day of the dead. She wants to be the best at school, and after a racist incident and on the advice of a teacher, she does just that. She studies and studies until she is the recipient of a scholarship to an elite boarding school (ah here's my theme again!) in Austin. But will Sofia's family let her go? Will Sofia want to go when the time comes. Will she ever learn what it means to be a comadre?

The non-Mexican or non Mexican American reader is in for quite a treat. Author Viola Canales has let us into Sofia's household to get a crash course in Mexican tradition, cuisine and culture. And not just the activities themselves, but also the meanings and reasons behind them. From the ritualistic cleaning of the beans with her father, to the making of Easter cascarones, the reader is fully immersed.

What I like as well, is the fact that unlike other books containing Spanish, there is no glossary. I like that I feel like I should know what these terms mean, and if I can't get it from the context, I can always look it up.

looking for alaska, john green

So of course, after ALA's lists came out, I had to get a pile of books to read. I do feel like I fell behind on my YA reading since I've had my last little one, and now I think is the time to catch up.

I had heard so much about this title, and kept almost buying it on overstock.com, but I finally got it from the library on Friday and finished it off this morning.

Miles "Pudge" Halter is off to boarding school in Alabama. Once there he hooks up with scholarship student and roomie Chip (the Colonel) and his friend Alaska. On his first night, Pudge is a victim of the traditional hazing activity of being thrown in the lake...but with a twist. Kevin and his boys duct tape Pudge before throwing him in as a piece of revenge for a prior "ratting out". This is what Pudge is about to learn. Loyalty. No matter the cost.

Alaska quickly becomes the unattainable object of Pudge's affections. Alaska is wild, smart and utterly self destructive. She is destined to burn out rather than fade away.

There are pieces of the plot that I won't reveal here, as I hate when reviewers and other mere mortals ruin a book for me. But I do have to say that there is a mystery within that is pretty easily figured out. That said, I don't think it takes too much away from the story if the reader figures it out.

I do think that the characters are uber aware for teenagers...that same criticism that my beloved Dawson's Creek used to get. Specifically a frank discussion about fellatio involving the 2 participants and a demonstrator seems incredibly unrealistic. But, hey....this is fiction, right? And Printz worthy fiction at that!(fyi Printz winner 2005)

I do love the boarding school setting. I would have LOVED to have been sent to boarding school and been released from my hometown prior to turning 18. Mind you, from the fiction (The Chocolate War, Rebel Angels, Catcher in the Rye, and Capt. Hook I should be a bit scared, but hey, there's always Hogwarts!

Dreamwalker's Child

This was a title that I read to review for VOYA. So you can read my review there! Ha.

I didn't like the title, or the cover, but the story itself was very fun. Creepy information about insects, parallel worlds and great lead characters. If you have a reader who likes adventure, I would definately recommend it!

Love, Ruby Lavender

Ruby Lavender is awfully tied to her grandma, Miss Eula, and is beside herself when Miss Eula announces that she is off to Hawaii to visit with her new grandbaby. Ruby doesn't know what she will do without Miss Eula's letters in the tree stump, and her faithful companionship. Miss Eula always knows what to say about that mean old Melba Jane, and has a way of providing quiet comfort when Ruby needs it most.

Bit by bit we find out about the tragic accident which forces Ruby to take the long way into town...the way that doesn't involve crossing the bridge.

Through letters to Miss Eula and a newly forged friendship with aspiring anthropologist Dove, Ruby reveals her heart and even allows it to soften a little.

This was a yummy read that was of course inspired by each little bird that sings. I tend to take away sayings from books and people. Lemony Snicket brought on "cake sniffer", my friend Jen brought on "Oh my stars and garters!", and now Ms. Wiles has added "Good garden of peas!" to my vocabulary. People around NYC think I'm a bit strange, but aren't conversations so much more colourful with good old fashioned expressions?

Newbery, Printz, etc.

So. I watched the webcast this morning of the ALA's Youth Media awards.

I had a feeling that Looking for Alaska would win for Printz, but alas...not even a Newbery Honour for Penderwicks! Was it too safe? Too like Alcott? Too clean? I am interested in seeing the Top 10 from BBYA and QP.

The Teacher's Funeral

I had been wanting to read this title for a while now, and I am glad that I did! Countrified, fun and old-fashioned-sweet.

Russell is 15 and STILL in the 8th grade. He is mighty pleased when he finds that old Miss Myrt has up and died, right before school is set to start. She is an old fashioned teacher who whups kids for the slightest infractions. Russell and brother Lloyd are hoping that without a teacher, the little one room school house of Hominy Ridge will be shut down.

Imagine his horror when big sister Tansy is groomed for the job of teacher. Russell now hopes that the 7 students will lead to the school being closed (there's a mandatory roster of 8). But then Glenn Tarbox, who is too old for school and from the trashy Tarbox family to boot, shows up for "larnin' ".

This is a sweet family story filled with turn of the century rural Indiana life. Part adventure, part coming of age, The Teacher's Funeral has one of the most satisfying endings I have read in a loooooong time.

Thank you Richard Peck!

Harry Sue

Ok. The yellow covered arc of this book sat on my bedside table for close to a year. I had no idea what the book was about. I hated the title. Jen had given it to me and told me it was more my age range. I didn't pick it up until some banter on yalsa-bk let on that a couple people favoured it for Newbery. While I still think that Penderwicks is going to run away with it, I am very glad to have read Harry Sue.

This is a book of characters. Wild characters, ripped from the headlines and then tossed together into a school, family and neighbourhood. Harry Sue is left to live with "Granny", after a fight at home caused her father to literally throw her out the window...from the seventh story. Mom got busted leaving her meth lab on the coffee table when police came to investigate. Granny runs the daycare "Granny's Lap", and in her mind Harry Sue is just a kid who is taking up space that someone would pay for. Granny is Roald Dahl-esque in her evilness, and as an adult reader I found myself appalled at her actions.

Harry Sue's best friend is Christopher...whom she calls Homer Price due to his inventing abilities. Homer took a swan dive off the bridge in town and managed to break his neck.

Harry Sue is doing her best to groom herself into a criminal. She figures that is the only way she will ever get to find her mom. Homer is doing his own time...up in his tree house, willing leaves to fall.

Enter substitute teacher Baba, physiotherapist J-Cat, Hammerhead and the other crumbsnatchers, and there is quite a story.

Harry Sue herself is quite taken with the story The Wizard of Oz, and although she has the author's name incorrect, she finds many bridges between the story and her own life. By making Baum's first name Louise, Harry Sue feels an affinity that allows her not to seem so lost, and indeed makes her seem much more wise than her years.

I think that this is a deceptively young story. Drugs, abuse, accidents, and racism all dealt with in this story. Author Sue Stauffacher thanks the kids of incarcerated parents at the end and I wonder how this story will touch them. What it's done for me is made me want to read The Wizard of Oz for the first time. It doesn't seem like the movie did it justice!